Kellerman asks Canelo about fighting Golovkin. This is important not just because it’s a fight that would rate among the best that can be made today, but because he must fight GGG or he will vacate the WBC title he just won.

“I can’t answer that right now,” Canelo says. “But if you want me to fight him right now, I’ll fight him right now.”

Round 12

What a finish! Toe-to-toe action form the opening bell as both fighters go for the knockout. Cotto rocked hard with a left hook early on, but he fires back and moves Canelo backwards – his best punch of the night. The fighters in the middle of the ring as the crowd watches from their feet. Canelo landing more punches here, three times as many according to CompuBox. Just blistering stuff both ways. I’ve scored the 12th and the fight to Canelo, but all that matters is what the judges think. Official scores shortly.

Round 11

Lots of close rounds in this one. Expect scorecards all over the map. Cotto connects with a hard straight right early on that gets Canelo’s atention. Canelo letting Cotto dictate the pace. Even though Canelo is landing that harder, more punishing shots, Cotto may have stolen more rounds than we realize.

Round 10

Canelo lands a low blow and is warned by the referee, drawing boos from the Boricuans in the crowd. Canelo landing the harder, more meaningful blows continues to be the difference in the fight, but Cotto did enough that round with movement and the jab to win it. A very good rebound round for the Puerto RIcan but he’s going to need something special these last two rounds to win the night.

Round 9

Through eight rounds Cotto has landed 48 of 176 punches (27%) compared to 68 of 166 for Canelo (41%). Canelo really coming on strong here in the middle rounds and the ninth is no different. Cotto triples up the jab, connecting with a few to score and keep Canelo at bay, but Canelo is getting through and landing power shots. A big uppercut there from Canelo, but Cotto responds with a nicely placed hook. He’s scoring and Canelo looks like he may be starting to tire. Another round to Canelo but it was a close one.

Round 8

The crowd is whipped into a frenzy throughout a round with furious two-way action. Gripping stuff, but not good for Cotto, who needs to keep boxing and avoid being dragged into a slugfest. Canelo with a hook, Canelo with a sneaky uppercut that moves Cotto. The champion is getting his shots in but there’s no question who’s getting the worst of the exchanges. A flurry of vicious shots to the head and body from Canelo, but Cotto is not backing down. A genuine round of the year candidate.

Round 7

A right hand from Canelo snaps Cotto’s head back, but he responds with a pair of shots to the body. Cotto continues to try and outbox the younger, stronger challenger. Canelo misses and Cotto counters beautifully. Another left hook by Cotto, but Canelo fires back with a punishing right uppercut. The round goes to Canelo as Cotto got away from the jab there.

Round 6

Action heating up in the sixth as Canelo starts to crowd and pressure Cotto and throw with greater frequency. Every punch of Cannelo’s that connects lands with a thud audible from the six rows off the ring. Cotto is not backing down, but can’t give up on the body attack even if he’s yet to figure out a way to land that trademark left downstairs with any consistency. Canelo with a left uppercut followed by a straight right. Again the Mexican landed the harder shots, but Cotto scored enough with that jab that round to nick it. Even fight through six.

Round 5

Canelo lands a big uppercut early on, but Cotto responds with a frustration. Cotto’s hardest shots seem to have no effect on Canelo – like that educated four-punch combination just now – who is starting to time his opponent’s rhythm much better. Another close round by Canelo takes it by landing the harder, more meaningful shots.

Rounds 1-4

The Wi-Fi connection at the Mandalay Bay Events Center crashed just before the opening bell and was restored just at the end of the four round. We’ll summarize here. Not much of a feeling-out process early as each fighter loaded up on his shots in the middle of the ring, but after the initial exchanges both men have been mostly conservative. The fourth was Cotto’s best round: he’s been doing his best when he sticks to using the jab. An even fight so far through four rounds. First and fourth to Cotto, second and third to Canelo.

Here’s a look at the tale of the tape as the crowd rises for the national anthems of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The weights are accurate as of Friday’s weigh-in, though we can expect both fighters have rehydrated and will enter the ring above the contracted catch-weight of 155lbs.

Here’s a look at the odds for tonight’s fight at the MGM Grand sports book. Cotto’s price has shortened from +265 to +240 since Thursday, indicating steady action on the Puerto Rican icon. Don’t be surprised to see the number keep moving in that direction. Not much longer now.

Francisco Vargas has just scored a stunning knockout of Takashi Muira for Muira’s super featherweight title! The champion had rallied nicely from a first-round knockdown, battering Vargas’s face badly over the next seven frames. But Vargas floored Muira with a devastating left-right combination out of nowhere in the early seconds of the ninth and referee Tony Weeks called a stop to it at the 1:31 mark. A spectactular finish, one of the best you’ll ever see.

“I’m the champ, I’m the champ!” Vargas said. “This is a dream come true for me, something I have been fighting for my whole life. I knew Takashi was going to be a tough opponent, that’s why he is the champion, so I had to make sure I was prepared to face a fighter like him. I feel that my preparation paid off for this fight. I knew I had to be very aggressive, and I showed that in the first round so he knew that I would not be bullied. When I was knocked down in the fourth round, I felt even more motivated to win this fight. I made sure to fight the way I wanted, how I wanted and my style and now I’m the champion of the world! I hope all the fans enjoyed themselves tonight with my performance.”

A bit of news today in Las Vegas: Sergey Kovalev will meet Andre Ward next year in one of the best fights that can be made today. Main Events CEO Kathy Duva told reporters on Saturday that contracts have been signed for the long-fancied bout between two of the sport’s pound-for-pound best. The deal stipulates that the fight can’t take place on either fighter’s home turf: California for Ward, Russia for Kovalev. Duva indicated it will likely take place at either Madison Square Garden or Las Vegas.

Elsewhere, Britain has another world champion after Anthony Crolla captured the WBA lightweight title with a body-shot knockout of Darleys Pérez earlier today in Germany.

Anthony Crolla closed the show with a vicious body shot earlier today.

One person who wasn’t impressed by Rigondeaux’s technical style was Drian Francisco. He connected on only 42 of 228 punches (18%) against the slippery Cuban, compared to 72 of 347 (21%) for Rigondeaux.

“Rigondeaux is not a fighter, he is a runner,” Francisco said. “He is afraid of getting hurt and doesn’t want to fight. I felt pressured into being the aggressor during this fight because he wasn’t fighting, he was running away. He is not a power puncher and won by points. I trained really hard for this fight and I feel like it was a waste of time because I didn’t encounter a fighter tonight.”

The last fight before Cotto v Canelo is underway. Takashi Miura, the WBC super featherweight champion, was rocked by a counter right from Mexican challenger Francisco Vargas in the opening round and showed great heart to make it to the bell. He’s rallied nicely since, opening a cut under Vargas’s right eye and dropping him with thudding straight left near the end of the fourth.

A pause in the boxing for a musical number by Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Yandel. These have become a staple of Roc Nation’s sports-music hybrid.Though I must say the two massive explosions during the performance, so loud they sounded like bombs going off in the area, are probably not the smartest idea given current events.

A performance by Yandel between the second and third pay-per-view fights.

Guillermo Rigondeaux just showed why he just may be the best fighter on the planet. The two-time Olympic gold medalist showed no rust in his first fight in nearly a year, rolling to a 10-round unanimous decision over Drian Francisco by scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 97-93. (The Guardian had it 100-90.)

Rigondeaux, who appears at or near the top of nearly all pound-for-pound lists, slipped, pivoted, parried and countered with verve, a masterful display of hit-and-don’t-get-hit boxing. His technical style might not be characterized as crowd-pleasing – indeed, scattered boos could be heard throughout the half-full arena – but there’s no denying it’s effective.

“I feel terrific after the fight,” he said through a translator. “He threw heavy but his style has nothing on mine. My style outmatched his. It’s been 11 months since I’ve been in the ring and I definitely felt some cobwebs but I d like to see some other fighters be out 11 months and come back with a win. I definitely wanted to give the fans a better fight so I need to get back in to the gym, get more active to give a better performance. I promise that with the tools I have now after signing with Roc Nation that next time I’ll be explosive. Thank you to my team for helping me get this win.”

After calling time on one of the greatest amateur careers ever, Rigondeaux fled to the United States in 2009, set up shop in Miami and won a title in his sixth pro fight. But things had slowed in the nearly three years since his signature win over Nonito Donaire to unify the super bantamweight championship at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Earlier this year he was stripped of his 122lbs titles due to inactivity.

Remember to send along your predictions via email or Twitter at @BryanAGraham. Here’s a look at how three legends of the prize ring see it playing out.

Sugar Ray Leonard: “I like Cotto for sentimental reasons and for what he has meant to the sport and boxing fans. Canelo has developed and grown along the way and taken to school against one of the best in Mayweather. If Cotto becomes that Miguel Cotto I remember, he will win by a smart, technical and fearless decision.”

Lennox Lewis: “I’m picking Cotto over Canelo because he has the most experience.”

George Foreman: “It will be a battle of wills as they are evenly matched. In my opinion, things will start to separate after that. Canelo Alvarez punches like a mule. Cotto just doesn’t have the heart to run; he will stand to fight after six rounds and by the ninth round he’ll most likely be KO’d by Canelo.”

Welcome to the Las Vegas strip for tonight’s middleweight title fight between Miguel Cotto and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. We’re coming to you from ringside at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, where the atmosphere is buzzing ahead of a fight bursting with promise.

A seven-fight undercard will set the table for tonight’s main event. Here’s what’s happened so far.

Hector Tanajara Jr KO 1 Jose Fabian Naranjo (lightweights)

Zhang Zhilei UD 4 Juan Goode (heavyweights)

Jose Martinez UD 8 Oscar Mojica (junior bantamweights)

Alberto Machado KO 1 Tyrone Luckey (lightweights)

Ronny Rios UD 10 Jayson Velez (featherweights)

Right now former unified junior featherweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux is in the third round of a 10-round fight against Drian Francisco. Then Japan’s Takashi Miura will defend his WBC super featherweight title against Francisco Vargas in the final prelim before the main event. Expect Cotto and Alvarez to make their ringwalks around 8.30pm here in Vegas. That’s 11.30pm ET and 4.30am GMT.